Thomas McCollum confident hard work will pay off as Red Wings goalie prospect

Mark Newman | Grand Rapids GriffinsThe Red Wings are just hoping for more consistency out of goalie Thomas McCollum, who's entering his third year as a pro.

TRAVERSE CITY -- Thomas McCollum has heard the whispers and side comments from those who are quick to label the 21-year-old goaltender and 30th overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft a bust.

Those assessments don’t really bother him, though. He’s too busy working to improve in his third year as a pro.

"I’ve heard it all before. I heard it in junior hockey," McCollum said at Detroit Red Wings development camp at Centre I.C.E. Arena.

"People can say whatever they want. I know what I’m doing out there on the ice, and I know I’ve been putting the time in and working hard. I know that it will come together."

McCollum has had his share of highs and lows in his first two seasons. As a rookie with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2009-10, he went 10-16-2 with a 3.48 goals-against average and .881 save percentage. Last year, he was 6-12-2 with a 3.33 GAA and .879 save percentage.

He also spent parts of both seasons with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL.

McCollum knows those numbers have to improve if he’s going to have a future one day in Detroit.

"It obviously was a lot of ups and downs. It was just something I have to learn how to deal with," he said.

"Unfortunately, I had a bit more experience with it than I wanted, but it’s part of the process, everybody goes through it. I’m really just looking forward to putting together a good season."

The Red Wings still love McCollum’s size (6-foot-2, 210 pounds), he moves well between the pipes and his technique is sound.

The biggest issue is his lack of consistency, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said.

"His high games are very good, but when he’s not on he’s way off," Holland said. "When he’s at the top of his game, he’s as good as any, it’s just that his consistency has too big a variance from his best games to his worst. I know he’s working real hard this summer, and he has to come in to training camp ready day by day by day to show the consistency that we’re looking for."

Griffins coach Curt Fraser said it is premature to write off a goalie who won’t turn 22 until December. He pointed out that Ed Belfour’s Hall-of-Fame career didn’t fully take off until he was about 26.

"Tommy has looked good at these camps before, very good. He’s a good goaltender," Fraser said. "Some young kids just take a little bit longer to find their step, and hopefully, Tommy will really step up this year and earn a lot of starts and find a way to put up a lot of wins."

Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill said McCollum just needs to learn how to handle adversity.

"I think he’s always had a great start and then had a bad outing and lets that affect him," Nill said. "He just needs to realize that all the good goalies let in bad goals, it’s what you do with that next shot. He knows that, he’s getting over that. It’s part of the maturing process. He’ll be fine."

For his part, McCollum said he isn’t feeling any added pressure. He knows that time still is on his side.

"I mean, it is what it is. I can’t change the past now as much as I would like to, so there’s not really any sense in worrying about it," McCollum said. "I’m just focusing on going out and playing well every night."